8 Canadian writers reflect on healing in this series from the 2022 Governor General's Literary Award winners
A special series presented in partnership with the Canada Council for the Arts
The English-language books that won the 2022 Governor General's Literary Awards in many respects expound on the resilience and healing of the human body and spirit. These ideas and concepts — and the power of literature as therapy — hold particularly relevant in a post-pandemic era.
CBC Books asked the winners to reflect further on the theme of healing and restoration in original works. The special series explores the complex ways we attempt to recentre ourselves in an uncertain world.
Canadian authors Annick MacAskill, Dorothy Dittrich, Eli Baxter, Jen Ferguson, Judith Weisz Woodsworth, Nahid Kazemi, Naseem Hrab and Sheila Heti have all delivered an original piece of writing — from poetry to nonfiction to a short story — inspired by this theme.
CBC's Ideas will host an episode about this series, featuring Dorothy Dittrich, Jen Ferguson and Nahid Kazemi. You can listen to the broadcast live or find the podcast on Friday, Feb. 10.
This special series is presented in partnership with the Canada Council for the Arts. Read on for links to these pieces.
Lilly in the Wintertime by Sheila Heti
Sheila Heti wrote this original short story over the Christmas holidays, in the middle of the night. She said she was thinking about new ways of looking at the self and the fleeting moments which make up the world in which we live in.
There is nothing wrong with the body, and there is nothing wrong with the mind. They exist in perfect stillness.- From Lilly in the Wintertime by Sheila Heti
"There is nothing wrong with the body, and there is nothing wrong with the mind. They exist in perfect stillness. Nothing holds the body together, and nothing holds together the mind. Even the mind cannot hold the mind together. What holds a marriage together, and what holds together a life? It is some force we cannot see," Heti wrote.
Heti won the 2022 Governor General's Literary Award for fiction for her novel Pure Colour.
Heti is a Canadian playwright and author whose work has been translated in over a dozen languages. Pure Colour was also shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize in 2023.
Na-naan-dah-wih-i-way by Eli Baxter
Eli Baxter's essay was inspired by his learned perspective of how mental health was practiced by the Anishinaabe Nations using memory in the oral tradition of passing down knowledge — and how these Anishinaabe healing methods are just as important today.
Healing, na-naan-dah-wih-i-way, is an ancient activity practiced by all cultures from the beginning of time.- From Na-naan-dah-wih-i-way by Eli Baxter
"Healing, na-naan-dah-wih-i-way, is an ancient activity practiced by all cultures from the beginning of time. The Anishinaabeg, the People, here on Turtle Island, Mis-koh-tay-sih Minis, are one of the many nationalities who practiced the art of healing. The Ojibway, O-zih-bee-ih-gay-wug, the People that Write, is just one tribe of the Anishinaabayg having many ways to treat a variety of illnesses like: mental health, physical wellness, and spiritual care," Baxter wrote.
Baxter won the 2022 Governor General's Literary Award for nonfiction for Aki-wayn-zih.
Baxter is a residential school survivor, certified Ontario teacher and author. Aki-wayn-zih is his first book.
Circumference by Annick MacAskill
Annick MacAskill wrote a poem that explores the lasting impact of civic development — who it serves, who it profits, who it harms. She examines how noise pollution impacts the human body and the natural world.
"Within a block and a half, three condo developments
thundering their way to completion. Still,
the backyard of my co-op too quiet,
the birds who should be here fled
to the checkered quilts of farmland, or closer
to sea. We are wrong to think them freer
than we are: we will move everywhere,
until we crowd out even the species
we call invasive, like the starling.
I can taste the tin of the sky, the real tin thing"
MacAskill won the 2022 Governor General's Literary Award for poetry for her collection Shadow Blight.
MacAskill is a Halifax poet, educator and author who was Arc Poetry Magazine's poet-in-residence for 2021-22. Her other poetry collections include Murmurations and No Meeting Without Body, which was nominated for the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award and was shortlisted for the J.M. Abraham Award.
This Story is Against Resilience, Supports Screaming As Needed by Jen Ferguson
Jen Ferguson was thinking about writing flash fiction that centred Indigeneity and the intersections of "resilience" as burden meets colonial traumas.
The girl is out of patience — she's just sick of being patient, of those well-meaning people calling her resilient. Every day, but especially today.- From This Story is Against Resilience, Supports Screaming As Needed by Jen Ferguson
"A girl wearing a frilly pink apron bursts out of the screen door the kitchen staff keep open for air-flow even in winter. She kicks at a plastic milk crate, sending it barreling across the alley into the side of that black vat where used oil gets stored until a big truck comes to suck it all up.
The girl pauses. Then screams. Her breath fogs the air.
The scream is bitter, rough. The kind that will hurt later.
The girl is fine with that.
Retrieving the milkcrate, flipping it, she sits, tries to extract a lone cigarette lodged in her pocket. The girl is out of patience — she's just sick of being patient, of those well-meaning people calling her resilient. Every day, but especially today."
Ferguson won the won the 2022 Governor General's Literary Award for young people's literature — text for her YA novel The Summer of Bitter and Sweet , her debut YA novel.
Ferguson is an author, activist and academic of Michif/Métis and Canadian settler heritage based in Los Angeles. She has a PhD in English and creative writing. Her work includes the 2016 novel Border Markers and her essay Off Balance was featured in Best Canadian Essays 2020.
Some Notes on the Requirement of Hope by Naseem Hrab
Naseem Hrab's original essay is about the disconnect between how we expect life to unfold and managing expectations and self-care when things don't quite go as planned or hoped.
I wasn't surprised to hear that my nephew made a potion — he is, after all, six years old. But I was surprised to hear that he cared enough to make one for me.- From Some Notes on the Requirement of Hope by Naseem Hrab
"A few months ago, my sister-in-law told me that my nephew made a love potion to help me find a boyfriend," Hrab wrote.
"I wasn't surprised to hear that my nephew made a potion — he is, after all, six years old. But I was surprised to hear that he cared enough to make one for me. Anytime I happen to talk about dating when he's around, he's glibly dismissed it as 'weird' and walked off to watch The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants.
"As embarrassing as it is to admit, I felt hopeful about his potion. But after a string of unsuccessful dating attempts, I start to suspect the formula might be off. I probe my nephew for more details. What if the ratio of mud to grass was incorrect? Is he absolutely sure it was a full moon? He stares at me blankly. He's forgotten about the potion. Then he cackles, remembering, and gleefully says, 'I flushed it down the toilet.'"
Hrab won the won the 2022 Governor General's Literary Award for young people's literature — illustrated books for her picture book The Sour Cherry Tree, which was illustrated by Nahid Kazemi.
Hrab is a writer and storyteller based in Toronto. She is also the author of How to Party Like a Snail, Otis & Peanut and Weekend Dad, which was a finalist for the 2020 Governor General's Literary Prize for young people's literature — illustrated books.
The Invisible Cage by Nahid Kazemi
In an original essay, Nahid Kazemi reflected on her experience as an immigrant to Canada and leaving her home country of Iran. Kazemi highlights the reality of almost every author, illustrator, and creative person who has to work under the shadow of a dictatorship with many restrictions and engage in self-censorship to create art and survive.
Imagine a lively bird that is full of passion to fly, but she has been captivated in a cage for a very long time.- From The Invisible Cage by Nahid Kazemi
"Imagine a lively bird that is full of passion to fly, but she has been captivated in a cage for a very long time," Kazemi wrote.
"For years she had to accept wounds to her body and soul to survive. The bird awaits the day for the cage to open to reach freedom, dreaming about the moment every day, imagining how she would instantly soar high into the sky, but when the day came and the cage door got opened, she could barely fly with all those wounds. The wounds needed to be treated, and the body had to be healed."
Kazemi won the 2022 Governor General's Literary Award for young people's literature — illustrated books for her picture book The Sour Cherry Tree, which was written by Naseem Hrab.
Kazemi is an Iranian Canadian artist, illustrator, graphic designer and author from Montreal. Her other books include I'm Glad That You're Happy, The Orange House and Over the Rooftops and Under the Moon by JonArno Lawson.
Possessions by Judith Weisz Woodsworth
Judith Weisz Woodsworth penned a personal memoir, briefly tracing the history of her family from the time her parents met after the Second World War to their eventual journey from Hungary to Paris — and then to Winnipeg with baby Judith in tow.
The Second World War had just ended. They had survived its atrocities, but just barely.- From Possessions by Judith Weisz Woodsworth
"The Second World War had just ended. They had survived its atrocities, but just barely. When my father returned to his hometown of Vásárosnamény in 1945, he found nothing and no one to keep him there. He'd lost his parents and three younger brothers, and his other siblings were dispersed. He set off for the big city, where he sold odds and ends out of a suitcase. Razor blades, combs, pens. Whatever he could lay his hands on and then resell," Weisz Woodsworth wrote.
"My mother had come home emaciated after imprisonment in three concentration camps. Her father had perished in a labour camp and she was helping her mother at the family's used furniture stall in the Budapest central market. She was trying to get in touch with an uncle, who had fled to Buenos Aires in the 1930s after working as a performer in a Berlin cabaret. Someone told her about Zoli, who was adept at contacting distant relatives."
Weisz Woodsworth won the 2022 Governor General's Literary Award for French to English translation for her translation of History of the Jews in Quebec by Pierre Anctil.
Weisz Woodsworth is a Canadian translator and recently retired professor at Concordia University. She has published widely on the history and theory of translation and has translated novels by Quebec authors Pierre Nepveu and Abla Farhoud.
When Big Healing Comes in Small Ways by Dorothy Dittrich
Dorothy Dittrich's original essay recounts a recent phone call with a friend, one that took them both down memory lane to tally the physical, emotional and mental losses and victories.
Maybe by studying our reactions we can find healing. My friend did.- From When Big Healing Comes in Small Ways by Dorothy Dittrich
"Maybe by studying our reactions we can find healing. My friend did. Our conversation sparked a memory of something unrelated, something ancient, hurtful and unseen, avoided and buried somewhere in the mind and body and it bubbled up with laughter and the kind of distance that comes with time.
"We hung up thanking each other for the conversation, the understanding and the laughter, telling each other how much better we felt. But why did I feel better? It was her story, her wound that had healed," Dittrich wrote.
Dittrich won the 2022 Governor General's Literary Award for drama for her play The Piano Teacher: A Healing Key.
Dittirch is a playwright, sound designer and composer who currently lives in Vancouver. Her other plays include The Dissociates, Lesser Demons, Two Part Invention and If the Moon Fall. She also created the musical When We Were Singing.
